Description

Key Characters:

Growth Form: Shrubs or small trees 3–10 m tall, new growth densely yellowish brown tomentose, becoming glabrate.

Stems:

Roots:

Leaves: Leaves simple. Opposite. Blades narrowly elliptic to elliptic or elliptic–obovate, 6–17 cm long, 3–6 cm wide. Apex rounded, usually emarginate. Base cuneate to rounded. Upper surfaces glabrous; lower surfaces sparsely to moderately pilose; blades, coriaceous. Margins entire. Pimary lateral veins usually 14–18 pairs, connected by an arched vein 1–6 mm from margin, venation pinnate, lateral veins connected by an arched submarginal vein, higher order venation forming a reticulate pattern. Petioles 20–30 mm long. Stipules absent.

Flowers: Flowers ca. 5 in tomentose, axillary cymes, peduncles 8–14 mm long, pedicels 8–9 mm long, bracts small, opposite. Flowers bisexual (perfect) or functionally unisexual (and then plants monoecious). Calyx of 4 sepals; sepals imbricate, pistillate flowers with sepals ovate, 24.5 mm long, appressed puberulent. Corolla of 4 petals, valvate, pistillate flowers petals deltate, ca. 6 mm long, glabrous. Stamens 8, in 2 whorls, distinct, reduced but always present in functionally pistillate flowers. Ovary superior, 4-celled and 4-lobed, carpels connate, only slightly distinct at apex to almost entirely distinct; ovules 2 per cell, hemitropous, 1 ascending; style 1, terminating in 4 short stigmatic branches, pistillate flowers ovary puberulent; style ca. 2 mm long, sparsely pilose toward base.

Fruit: Capsules dark red; 14–20 mm wide; carpels connate ca. ½ their length; 7–10 mm long; exocarp sparsely to moderately puberulent; endocarp sparsely short–villous. the carpels dehiscing along the upper suture; exocarp. Seeds 1–2 per carpel; ca. 5–6 mm long. glossy black when ripe; crustaceous; ovoid; sometimes angled from compression; embryo straight in fleshy endosperm; radicle short; cotyledons compressed; ovate; putamen brown; warty.

Ploidy:

Habitat: Apparently rare in mesic to wet forest.

Elevation Range: 1,070–1,220 m.